Feb 11, 2014
Glaring at you Haru. He's glaring very hard at you.
seen from France
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from India
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Argentina
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Tajikistan
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from Bangladesh
seen from France
seen from France
seen from China
Glaring at you Haru. He's glaring very hard at you.
Someone's casually checking to see how many water bottles they have in the refrigerator. The more pourable water the better.
"Forget a sight I've never seen, now it's a sound I've never heard."
Sorry Haru, he heard it. Twice.
Don't mind Rin, he's just laughing rather hard now.
YOU KNOW WHAT--
As the plane took off and the nose tilted upward to the sky, feeling them being lifted further and further off the ground did nothing to make Rin feel any lighter; emotionally or physically. Sure his altitude was steadily climbing along with the rest of the plane and everyone on it, but he still felt as if his heart was on the ground, just abandoned there and left to beat forever on the runway. It wouldn't feel any better there with him than it would on the ground.
The race kept playing over and over in his head like a broken record that was literally unable to stop forcing the images to play. It was like some cruel string of fate wanted him to relive that emotional agony until it broke him again.
Their dive into the water, the first and only turn, the stretch that came faster and faster as both boys neared the finishing point where Coach Goro would tell them who'd been victorious.
He'd always been faster than Haru on shorter distances. Always. It'd only been when they swam a hundred meters that Haru always overtook him, never any other time. So why had it been so different this time? As both Rin and Haru pulled themselves out of the pool and looked expectantly at the older, Rin could almost audibly hear his stomach drop when the blonde looked at Haru and announced that he'd touched the wall first.
Another beat passed and the redhead fell to his knees and let his head hang and his bangs cover up his face as much as they could. Amazing how quickly the tears were coming on, but at this point Rin couldn't bring himself to care; he'd reached his breaking point whether anyone else knew it or not. As shoulders shook as the sobs wracked his thin torso harder and harder, Rin couldn't bring his gaze up to look at the worried and curious looks he was no doubt getting. He didn't care, he just didn't care.
Yet another beat passed and Rin pushed himself up to stand and deliberately avoided Haru's gaze as he stormed past wordlessly. The only sound he did make was the hollow clatter of his goggles hitting the concrete floor, bouncing once, and going still a second later. He had no use for them, why even bother taking them home? They'd only take up space in his room anyway. Not to mention hurt his heart knowing what he was too weak to achieve for himself. What he'd ruined himself to the point of no return.
Rin had probably never gotten dressed so fast in his life, it was a wonder he had a sock on both feet and the scarf properly wrapped around his neck. He'd bolted from the locker room as soon as his backpack was slung over his shoulder, and he'd fully expected to be leaving Haru behind (for once, what a laughable notion) and not have to see or talk to him again. Until he felt fingers grasping at his wrist and pulled him to a stop. Even then, he couldn't look Haru in the eye and know that he still wasn't good enough. He never would be.
"I'm done swimming."
That's all she wrote, and that's all Rin said as he roughly yanked his arm free and continued to sprint off down the hallway. It hurt Rin to leave one of his best friends behind him, it wasn't so ridiculous to say that it almost physically hurt him to do so, but Rin knew he didn't have another choice. He couldn't stay there. Not after what just happened.
Haru wouldn't see him again. Not as a fellow swimmer.
As the plane leveled out and a few minutes later a small beep sounded overhead to indicate that it was safe for passengers to move about the cabin, all Rin did was unbuckle his seatbelt so that he could pull his legs up to his chest and turn off to the side, away from the aisle. A flight attendant asked him later if he wanted anything to drink, all she got was a mumbled 'no' in response.
His own words also kept ringing inside his head, and Rin knew deep down that that's what he'd be doing once he got back to school in Australia. His mother made him promise that he wouldn't decide anything until he got back to school, in the hopes that his mind would change once he got back there and started swimming again, even if it was simple time trials. But Rin had been adamant, in his own mind anyway, that he knew he wouldn't set foot in the pool again unless he absolutely had to.
He was done swimming. The Olympics were so far out of reach now that he didn't even hardly know what direction to even reach in. Sure he saw a sight he'd never seen before, but it only lead to a sight that he never wanted to see. His own failure.
"Sorry Pops, I couldn't do it. . ."
HARU OWES ONE BELATED NEW YEARS KISS I'M CASHING THAT IN TOMORROW SOPHIE LMAO.
12
Kou has a habit of changing Rin's phone ringtones from time to time to prank him, mostly with the ringtone's that go off more often than others (namely ones for the team or her or their mother). One particular time, she changed Haru's text and call ringtone to something else, and Rin was none the wiser until it actually went off for a change. The first time he was confused as hell, but the more he heard it, the more it amused him, so Rin decided to keep it, and it's still on his phone today despite Haru not being amused at all by it.